By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks on Wednesday retreated
from five-year highs after the U.S. economy unexpectedly contracted
in the final quarter of 2012.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) lost 12.80 points, or
0.1%, to 13,941.62 in late morning trade. Boeing Co. (BA) was among
blue-chip gainers after the aircraft maker reported quarterly
earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street's estimates.
The S&P 500 index (SPX) was down 2.61 points, or 0.2%, at
1,505.23, with the financial sector the worst performer and
telecommunications the best of its 10 major industry groups.
U.S.-listed shares of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd.
(RIMM) fell 5% after the Canadian company said it would change its
name to BlackBerry.
The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) shed 1.42 point to 3,152.22, with
the technology-laden index's losses lessened by a 7.8% rise in
shares of Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) a day after the online retailer
reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter gross profit
margins.
Social-networking company Facebook Inc. (FB) climbed 1.9% ahead
of its quarterly earnings report expected after Wednesday's
close.
For every five stocks advancing nearly nine declined on the New
York Stock Exchange, where 182 million shares traded as of 11 a.m.
Eastern. Composite volume surpassed 1 billion.
Stock-index futures fell after the Commerce Department reported
fourth-quarter gross domestic product dropped at a 0.1% annual
rate, the worst performance since the second quarter of 2009, when
the economy remained in recession.
"For the first half of 2013, we do not envisage a very strong
acceleration in economic growth," Kathy Bostjancic, director for
macroeconomic analysis at the Conference Board, said in a
statement.
"However, there are reasons for hope in the second half of the
year as the fiscal drag wanes and housing, which long created a
drag on the economy, continues to turn from a headwind to a
tailwind," she added.
A separate report from a payrolls processor said private
companies added 192,000 workers in January, with the
better-than-expected rise coming ahead of Friday's nonfarm payrolls
report for January.
The Federal Reserve will release a policy statement Wednesday
afternoon after a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market
Committee.
The FOMC is expected to keep policy unchanged and continue its
aggressive bond buying in an effort to boost the economy.
Treasury prices dropped on Wednesday, with the benchmark 10-year
yield (10_YEAR) rising 3 basis points to 2.029%. Treasury prices
and yields move in opposite directions.
In the currency markets, the dollar index (DXY), which tracks
the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major
currencies, dropped 0.4% to 79.262. The euro (EURUSD) climbed 0.7%
to $1.3573.
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